Recipe by Chef Heidi Fink
Italian Meatballs
- Prep time 40 mins
- Cook time 20 mins
- Ready in 1 hour
- Yield Serves 4 to 6
These delicious meatballs are quicker to make than usual and are an absolute
fabvourite of my children. The meatballs can be mixed and rolled a day or two before,
or even frozen, either raw or cooked.
Ingredients
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 F convection, or 400 F with no convection. Cover a large baking sheet (e.g. jelly roll pan) with parchment paper.
- Next, make a panade: a mixture of bread and dairy. Break the crustless bread into small pieces; place in a large bowl. Add the buttermilk (or milk) and mix well. Let soak for about five minutes, then mash well with a fork until the mixture resembles baby food. This will help hold moisture in the meatballs even when they are fully cooked.
- Add the salt to the panade and mix well.
- Add the ground beef and the Italian sausage meat to the panade mixture (remove casings from sausage first, if necessary). Use your hands to mix everything very well, until it is evenly blended, with no streaks of bread panade or plain sausage. (I use disposable gloves for mixing the meatballs)
- Divide the meatball mixture into pieces between the size of a walnut and the size of a golfball, and then roll each into a ball between your hands. Place on parchment-lined tray and place in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, until meatballs are cooked through and browning a bit (if using a thermometer, cook meatballs until they register165 F / 74 C ).
- Remove from oven. They can be served as is, or better yet, added (along with all the juices) to Quick Tomato Sauce and simmered for ten to fifteen minutes.
Variations
MEATBALLS WITH TOMATO SAUCE (for pasta)
- Make the recipe for Quick Tomato sauce, up to the end of Step 3.
- When the meatballs come out of the oven, add them, along with all of their cooking juices, to the tomato sauce and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Finish step 4 of the tomato sauce (adding the fresh herbs and olive oil)
- Serve with crusty bread or with cooked pasta.
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